1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit package (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9csemiconductor IC packagexe2x80x9d), semiconductor apparatus provided with a plurality of semiconductor IC packages, a method of inspecting a semiconductor integrated circuit and a method of fabricating a semiconductor IC package.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various semiconductor IC packages have been proposed to meet the recent progressive increase in integration size.
For example, such semiconductor IC packages are proposed in JP-A Nos. 8-125066 (May 17, 1996) and 10-189861 (Jul. 21, 1998).
A lead frame needs to be processed by an etching technique to construct the semiconductor IC package proposed in the former cited reference. The etching technique needs many processes, takes much time to process the lead frame and has difficulty in forming the lead frame in a correct shape.
Middle parts of a plurality of leads must be bent upward and sideways to construct the semiconductor IC package proposed in the latter cited reference. However, it is practically difficult to bend the middle parts of the plurality of leads upward and sideways because the leads are arranged at small intervals.
Accordingly, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a resin-sealed semiconductor IC package having a large integration size and a size substantially equal to that of a semiconductor IC chip included therein.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a method of easily fabricating a resin-sealed semiconductor IC package provided with leads partly exposed on the surface of a resin package by well-controlled processes.
To achieve the first object, the present invention provides a resin-sealed semiconductor IC package comprising a semiconductor IC chip, a resin package covering the semiconductor IC chip, and a lead frame supporting the semiconductor IC chip, and having a plurality of leads arranged on the semiconductor IC chip, having end portions bent so as to extend perpendicularly to a major surface of the semiconductor IC chip and having tips exposed on the surface of the resin package and provided with conductive elements to be connected to external circuits.
The resin-sealed semiconductor IC package has a size substantially equal to that of the semiconductor IC chip.
To achieve the second object, the present invention provides a method of fabricating a resin-sealed semiconductor integrated circuit package comprising a semiconductor IC chip, a resin package covering the semiconductor IC chip, and a lead frame supporting the semiconductor IC chip, and having a plurality of leads having leads partly exposed on the surface of a resin package, comprising a step of bending end portions of the leads in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the semiconductor IC chip so that the tips of the end portions are exposed.
Since the method bends the end portions of the leads, the resin-sealed semiconductor IC package can easily be fabricated by well-controlled processes so that the leads are partly exposed o the surface of the resin package by conventional press working or the like.